Art Deco District Wins Spot In Miami, History

July 10, 1986|By Robert A. Liff, Sentinel Miami Bureau

MIAMI BEACH — Art deco enthusiasts won a major battle Wednesday when the Miami Beach City Commission established an architectural historic district along two oceanfront streets in the depressed south beach neighborhood.

Commissioners listened to two hours of impassioned pleas, many from developers who have invested millions in renovating the 50-year-old pastel cubes with outcroppings that have been highlighted, among other places, on television's Miami Vice.

''Historic preservation is progress, but progress with finesse,'' artist Woody Vondracek told commissioners. Vondracek said the art deco district should be protected and not torn down for the benefit of ''a few greedy individuals and brain-dead property owners.''

The ordinance says a property owner must wait six months before being allowed to tear down a building in the district. During that time, the property owner is supposed to consider proposals from developers who want to buy the building for renovation.

The historic designation drew support from most of the property owners who spoke to the commission, including long-time owners and some of the newer owners who have begun renovating more than 20 of the older buildings. These owners pointed to national publicity the district has drawn to Miami Beach and to the movement of yuppies into the district.

Justin Horowitz, who owns a small 30-room hotel along Collins Avenue, called the stock of structures ''small buildings which are outdated and have outlived their use.''

Dov Dunaesky, who with city Commissioner Abe Resnick owns several buildings that have deteriorated while nearby buildings have been improved, put ''economic facts'' before commissioners to persuade them to resist the overflow crowd of deco enthusiasts at the hearing.

He said one building he owned outside the district is worth $365,000 and the land it sits on is worth $175,000, which he said is the average ratio. By comparison, Dunaesky said, a deserted building he owns in the district is worth $1,000, but the land is worth $1.35 million.

He and other landowners agreed to have Ocean Drive protected but asked the commission to exclude Collins Avenue. Commissioners voted 6 to 1 to include Collins Avenue up to 16th Street in the district, with Resnick -- asking for ''loyalty'' to the city's planning board recommendation to exclude Collins -- the sole negative vote.

The city's Historical Preservation Board had voted to keep Collins Avenue in the district, leaving the commission to decide between the two boards' recommendations.

City Commissioner William Shockett, who was head of the chamber of commerce five years ago when he opposed the original federal designation of 50 blocks as an art deco district, strongly endorsed the added protection of the new ordinance.

''I'm sorry the only arguments I'm hearing today against extending the art deco district are exactly the same ones we made five or six years ago,'' Shockett said. ''We were wrong then, and they're wrong now.''